Fighting Back
by LilyGhost
Summary: An apprehension goes wrong for Stephanie, leaving her not only fighting for her life, but also for the one she's begun with Ranger.


**Everybody and anything familiar belongs to Janet. The mistakes are mine.**

I slid my tongue around the inside of my mouth. Though I taste blood, I felt relief when I realized all my teeth are still where they should be. Then I got pissed because a guy other than Ranger touched me. I know Rupert Bozek's a dead man if word gets back to Rangeman, but I have other things to worry about as a switchblade came at my chest.

"You really should beat it when you're told to," he said, lunging forward again, only narrowly missing my arm.

"And you should've gone to court like _you_ were told to."

I hate when skips act like it's my fault that they didn't deal with their shit. I hate it even more when they take a swing at me. If I hadn't turned my head, thinking that Bozek wasn't alone here after all, and that I was about to be in bigger trouble, he wouldn't have gotten in that sucker punch. _Asshole_. In the second it took my head to fly to the side, he managed to knock my gun out of my hand _and_ waste one of my bullets as I squeezed off a round before his fist met my head.

He apparently doesn't like someone pointing out the obvious, because he gave up trying to poke holes in me and threw the knife in the direction of my face. I moved to the left so my nose wouldn't get sliced off, then I dove for the weapon. My fingertips touched steel, and I quickly scrambled back to my feet.

I took a deep breath and tried to focus on what Ranger and the guys have taught me ... how to protect my vital areas, which direction to go in order to avoid another blow, and what sections of his body to hit that will incapacitate him.

I kept my elbow close to my body and held the six-inch blade out in front of me.

"You really don't want to mess with me," I warned him.

He laughed, giving me a stomach-turning whiff of him. "Because you'll gut me? I don't fucking think so. You don't have the balls for it."

"You shouldn't have put the thought of your balls in my head, since that's what I'm now thinking of removing. You probably don't need them anyway."

"You'd be lucky to get to know my nuts, but I don't do whores."

Jeez, you question a guy's testicle usage and they get a little testy.

"I'm _not_ a whore, but you are definitely a dick. And I don't mind doing womankind a favor by chopping that off, too. Not that it'd be a big enough loss for anyone to notice."

He didn't appreciate that, and stupidly came at me again, clearly not giving a shit about the knife in my hand. I took a 'stab' at him and sliced the arm trying to grab me. That got me some personal space and bought me about a minute. I immediately started searching for my phone with my free hand. This has quickly turned into something I hadn't agreed to when I left Vinnie's this morning. I need backup and I know exactly who to call to get it.

I managed to locate my cell in my bag, and was in the process of pulling it out, but Rupert was done checking his arm out and wanted a little revenge.

"You're gonna pay for that," he bit out.

" _That_ was payback for splitting my lip. We can call it even if you sit your ass in my car now and just get this over with before you wind up with new charges added to your current ones."

"I'm _not_ going back to jail. And definitely not because of _you_."

I was trying to hit that magic spot that will connect me to the control room at Rangeman without taking my eyes off Bozek. I'm not doing that again. My mouth is still stinging. I didn't seem to be having much luck, because I've yet to hear anybody on the other end of my phone. At this point, I'm just going to tap, swipe, or press whatever I can with my thumb and hope I get through to _someone_.

"Either you come with me now," I told him, "or I'm leaving alone ... but coming right back with someone who'll make you shit out your large intestine."

"Uh-uh. You had your chance to leave, and you were too dumb to take it. Now you go only when _I_ say so."

"Not going to happen," I informed him. "I don't like people telling me what to do."

" _I_ don't give a fuck what you like or don't like. Now toss the fucking phone."

"No," I said, continuing to try to reach somebody beyond this crap-filled yard.

His foot came at me ... and while I kept hold of the knife, I was suddenly missing my link to the outside world.

"Lose something?" He asked.

Yeah, my marbles. I should have left before all this shit started. This guy is clearly insane and I'm done trying to reason with him. I'm now wishing that I'd hit an artery in his arm, not just skinned part of it.

"If you're in the mood to fight, you're in luck because I'm pretty sure you'll be getting a visit soon from someone way more experienced at combat than you've probably seen in movies."

"You're not leaving," he repeated.

"Yes ... I am. And I _will_ be back."

I kept my eyes and the knife trained on him and bent my knees slightly, trying to feel around for my phone. I don't want to leave it behind, but I will if it doesn't jump into my hand in the next two seconds.

"You don't listen good, do you?" He asked, getting perilously close to me. "You got a mouth on you just like my bitch of an ex-wife. Took some time, but I finally got to shut that one up for good."

That doesn't sound good. "You were picked up for possession ..."

I haven't heard anything about a missing wife or the possibility of him being the cause of it.

"What the state don't know won't hurt me. You, on the other hand, are gonna get plenty hurt."

Fuck the phone, I thought, just before I decided to abandon my cell and make a run for it. I don't know what exactly happened. I only remember seeing the frayed seam of his jeaned leg move before I made it completely upright. My guess is that he somehow got in a temple shot, because one minute I was taking a swing at him with his own knife, intending to disembowel him, and the next I was ... out.

I woke up in an all too familiar place, inside a trunk of a too small car. Damn it! I should've known ... things have been going almost too good for me lately. My life was bound to get screwed up. Ranger and I are together, even if we haven't officially voiced the fact that we are very much a couple. I've dragged in every FTA I've been given, both at Vinnie's and whoever Ranger needed my help with. And Joe has been MIA on some undercover sting-thing, so my mom has finally stopped ignoring my relationship with Ranger while trying to get Joe and I back together.

Now this has to happen. There's no way I'm letting some asshole take away the life that I finally got straightened out. I _will_ get myself out of this. And Rupert will live to regret everything he's done since he stepped off his dilapidated front porch. If _I_ don't make him drop to his knees and beg for mercy myself, I know Ranger and the guys will take him apart piece by painful piece for kidnapping me. But I don't want them to have to do anything that will require an alibi, so I have to save myself just to keep them from getting in trouble because of me.

I tried to keep my breathing even as I attempted all the usual ways to break out of a trunk. My arms had been secured behind my back with my own friggin' cuffs that he must have dug out from my shoulder bag when I blacked out, so I was left with trying to kick my way out.

No surprise, that didn't work like I was praying it would. My immediate Plan B was to play dead when the car came to a stop. I pretended that I was still unconscious to hopefully catch him by surprise. I have no idea how long I've been in the trunk, but he isn't as bright as a forty-year-old a-hole should be, so maybe he wouldn't question the timing.

He didn't. Two minutes after he parked, he opened the trunk and I felt ice cold water hit my face. I'm happy that it wasn't his fist again, but it was almost as unpleasant. I couldn't stop the instinctual reaction to the cold, and I gave away my return to consciousness by flinching.

"Rise and shine, Bitch," he said, obviously enjoying his moment of total douchebagness.

He reached in, I'm assuming to drag me out. I heard someone once say that you should _never_ let yourself be taken to a secondary location by an abductor. I'm already screwed when it comes to that, but I'm not going willingly with him now.

I lashed out with my size seven Cat boot, and the solid hit to his beer gut knocked him back a bit. I tried to climb out of the trunk before he got back whatever wits he has left in that tiny pea brain of his, but I only managed to swing my leg up and over the edge. He grabbed my ponytail and yanked me to a stop.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" He asked, and not in the most polite tone, either.

"Away from you," I told him.

He laughed, showing a missing canine. " _I'm_ the man here, not you ... so I'm calling the shots. You women don't seem to get that. You put on a pair of pants and believe you're the ones wearing 'em. Shows how fucking stupid you are ... ordering _a man_ around. You think _you're_ going to arrest me? Fuck that shit. I eat little girls like you for breakfast. And I only go where _I_ want to go."

Great. He's either a chronic abusive asshole or a cannibalistic one. Neither of those appeal very much to me. Vinnie has to stop bailing out psychos, and I have to stop going after them alone. ' _Stop it_ , _Stephanie_ ', I told myself. _'You'll get out of this. You just have to calm down and wait for the right moment to show him that he shouldn't fuck with a Jersey girl_. We stomp the gonads of pricks like him for kicks.

"A _real_ man doesn't need to bully, insult, or throw punches," I said, thinking of Ranger ... who can make someone crap themselves with a single look. "You have to rely on all of those to make yourself feel like one. And guess what? It never works. You'll always be a small-dicked douchebag who got in a lucky punch. If you hadn't, you'd be sitting in an ER chair right now, bleeding profusely from the spot that used to have a finger or toe attached to it."

That was like waving a red flag in front of a very pissed off bull. It probably wasn't smart, but I don't enjoy feeling like a victim. And I was hoping to make him angry enough to get reckless. Reckless men are stupid, and stupid men make mistakes.

"You can't talk to me that way!" He barked.

"I just did."

"Bitch."

"Yeah, today I'm definitely feeling like one. Must be the company."

"I should've snapped your neck when I had the chance," he told me, twisting my hair in his hand and forcing my head close to his.

It hurt, but it was tolerable. I just need a second of distraction on his part. I could go for his nuts, but he'd probably take out that chunk of hair when he keeled over. I'd miss it, but at least I'd be alive to grow it back.

"You should've done it then," I said, suddenly twisting in his hold and putting my knee to good use.

He didn't take _every_ curl out, but I know I'm now minus a couple of them. I stumbled back, but his arm lashed out, slamming into what must be a pressure point just above my knee. My leg almost went out from underneath me, but I managed to recover. I didn't the second time when the sole of his work boot hit my ankle. I went down hard and his hands were around my neck a beat later. Guess I really shouldn't have goaded him about that whole neck-snapping thing.

My head felt foggy when I came to again. And I momentarily thought Ranger had figured out where I had disappeared to, and was carrying me to safety. I realized he wasn't when I felt flab instead of solid muscle, smelled pot and sweat ... not Bulgari, and felt nauseous instead of loved. Bozek had me again, and the sound of fast-flowing water nearby means I'm fucked. The upside is that I'm pretty sure I know where I am now. The downside is that I know his intentions are to toss me off a cliff and onto the rocks, or into the Hudson River, below it.

I've joked with Mary Lou, saying I want a guy to be strong enough to lug me for miles if I ever sprained an ankle out in the middle of nowhere. But I now see the flaw in that. If they can carry you to civilization and a hospital, they can just as easily throw you over a cliffside to make their day easier.

That would _not_ make for a good day for _me_. I kept my body slack and barely cracked my eyes open to see how close I am to the edge ... and how close he is to going over it completely. We were still on the main trail parallel to the river, so I have a few seconds to think through what I should do. Then I stopped being stupid and just did the only thing I could.

I jerked myself 'awake' and flung my elbow into Bozek's neck. He sputtered, his arms relaxed, and I fell four feet onto the hard-packed ground.

"Fuck," I whispered ... because that really hurt, but that's all the pity I'd allow myself.

I have limited use of my bound arms, a now bruised ass, pain in my legs, and I still have to make sure he doesn't get his hands on me again.

That thought had me worrying why he _hadn't_ come after me. He should be hurting a little himself, but I don't think I was able to knock him out or anything. I heard the sound of boots in the dirt a few feet away from me. _Shit_. I shouldn't have questioned it. That was just asking for trouble. Now I'm going to regret it.

I got carefully to my feet, making sure I could keep myself standing, and turned towards the pain-filled grunt I felt as well as heard. Out of the corner of my eye I caught the moment Ranger grabbed the material of Bozek's shirt in one hand, lifted him two feet off the ground, and flung him off the area marked as an outlook point. A terror-filled scream was the last sound Rupert ever made.

I don't know how I feel about that. No doubt I'll have to think about seeing someone plummet to their death soon enough, most likely at two in the morning as I lay in my bed, a peaceful sleep once again not an option. But right now, I focused on Ranger's face, the two Rangeguys now rushing over to us, and then the hard arms almost crushing me after my cuffs were removed.

"Babe," was said into my hair.

"I'm fine," I promised him.

"Is she?" Junior asked.

Ranger ignored us both and let me go in order to check me for injuries. I don't have many ... just a fat lip, a sore throat, and a few achy spots along my body.

"You're okay, Steph," he said, after he discovered that I have no broken bones or limbs spurting blood.

"I know. That's what I was trying to tell you. You never believe me, though."

His lips moved slightly.

"What should we do about ...?" Cal asked Ranger.

"Option A," he told his men.

They nodded and got busy doing whatever Option A entailed.

" _How?_ " I asked.

I only needed one word to get the details. I wasn't able to call anyone, let alone give them the location of a place I had no idea I'd eventually be taken to. Ranger's good, but aside from him finally admitting to being psychic, I have no clue how he pulled this rescue off.

"Your car and bag said you were sitting in Bozek's driveway in Franklin Township, but the collar of your jacket, and the trackers hidden in the tongues of your boots, said you were leaving it. Once he figured out something was off, Ram started tracking you and was feeding me your coordinates."

"So I wouldn't have gone skydiving without a parachute," I said. "That's a relief."

He didn't say anything. I looked up at him and saw a muscle in his jaw clench once. It wasn't much, but I suddenly understood that I'd been closer to death than I thought. Ranger can keep his thoughts and emotions completely under wraps, but with one tiny facial movement, he made it clear that I had scared the shit out of him again.

"That was too fucking close, Steph," he said, his voice quiet but serious.

I'm choosing not to dwell on that. I decided to go with distracting myself instead.

"You said ' _fucking_ '. You never swear."

"Some situations warrant a curse or two."

"I'm sorry," I whispered, and lowered my forehead to rest against his chest.

He pressed a kiss to my curls before he spoke. "You don't have to apologize. You did what you were supposed to, aside from calling me this morning to come with you."

"You have ten jobs to do during every second of the day. You can't drop what you're doing to shadow me every time I go out after someone."

"My entire world would stop if you were dead, Steph. That would be far more inconvenient than canceling a meeting."

Shit. He had me there.

"You really do love me, don't you?"

"Yes. And I don't appreciate people kidnapping you."

I smiled. "I got that. I think both Bozek and I figured that out when he went sailing over the side of a cliff. Did you know that he killed his ex-wife?"

"There were rumblings, but no body has surfaced."

"He admitted it before he took me, which is probably the reason he did."

"The men and I are impressed with how you handled yourself."

"Why? I didn't do a very good job of protecting myself, since I already know that you're planning on taking me to the ER."

"I am. You're bruised and you have dried blood on your chin. I want someone with a degree telling me that you're okay enough for me to take home. Cal and Junior would have been right behind me if they hadn't paused to watch you in action."

He's lying his muscled ass off, but I really appreciate him saying that. If the guys had waited even a millisecond to storm the shores, Ranger would've beaten the snot out of them himself.

"You don't need to babysit me tonight," I told him. "This was a freak occurrence by a freak who picked today to go off the deep end, but it won't happen again."

"You're right ... it won't. Since you work for _me_ as well as for Vinnie, you _will_ be given a man to partner with when I can't be with you myself. Just like the rule regarding your gun - and the bullets for it - there will be _no_ leaving home without him."

"Except for when I go after someone for Vinnie," I pointed out.

I'm glad and relieved to have round-the-clock backup, but the part of me that Joe always had a problem with, still felt like I had to fight a direct order. I won't argue with Ranger on this particular thing, though, but he doesn't have to know right away that I finally caved on the only issue we've constantly disagreed on.

" _Wrong_. If you want to keep your job at Rangeman, and the paycheck that's triple what you make at the bonds office, you _will_ take someone with you no matter who you work for, or who you're going after ... small bond or large one."

I lifted my head and narrowed my eyes at him. "That's blackmail."

"If that's what you'd like to call it. If you want to continue working for me, you do things _my_ way."

"Jeez. I thought you were a hardass before, but you just got ten times worse in the last five minutes."

"Live with it."

I plan on not only living with it, but benefiting from it as well. The days of me trying to prove a point to everybody who has doubted me are over. I'm going to concentrate on taking care of myself, because I never want to require saving again. Ranger's right. This had been too close. I may have gotten away from Bozek after hitting him, but I could've just as easily gotten shot in the back as I made my escape if he'd had another gun on him.

A chainsaw or flamethrower I may have stood a chance against if I could outthink or outrun the person wielding them. But if I have to go toe-to-toe with a cliff, I know I'd likely become a Plum pancake or fish bait.

"So what now?" I asked, catching Cal on his cell talking in a hushed tone with whoever's on the line.

Junior had gone to investigate where Bozek likely fell. Maybe Cal's speaking to him ... possibly Tank ... though more than likely, it's a high-powered somebody who owes Ranger a favor. A person who's able to make all kinds of things disappear, like a body or paperwork for a skip who no longer needs it.

" _Now_ ," Ranger said, finally figuring that it's safe to let me move a few inches away from him, "we're going to get you checked out, and then I'm taking you back to my place for Ella to fuss over."

" _Ella?_ "

"Yes. Once a doctor gives you an all clear, and Ella sees for herself that we found you, _I'll_ take care of you in my own way."

 _Yikes_. "Should I be scared?"

"You should be terrified, Babe, because it's possible that when you fall asleep, if a concussion isn't an issue, I may override your thoughts on the matter and move your belongings and your rodent in, just to ensure that you have no real reason to leave my bed or my apartment."

" _Your bed?_ Umm, shouldn't I at least get dinner first before I end up in your bed again?"

I'm kidding, yet not really kidding. With all that's happened today, I'm having a hard time reading between the lines of what is or isn't Ranger humor.

"You always get dinner, plus breakfast and lunch if you're interested. And you've slept with me countless times now. That's all I'm suggesting at the moment ... _sleep_... until I'm sure you're not in any kind of pain." He paused for a beat. " _You_ may have been scared, Steph, but I was more than that when I thought I wouldn't reach you in time. I need to be with you tonight, and you need to accept that."

I tucked myself back against him and smiled into the windbreaker-covered chest.

"Have I told you lately that you're bossy?" I asked.

"Yes. Have I told you lately that I love you?"

"Yep. You've gone from saying it monthly, to saying it daily," I told him.

"I'll say it hourly if you agree to move into the Rangeman building."

"On four?" I asked, remembering the time of the Slayer threat.

"No. On seven with me. I had too much time to think while I was trying to locate you, and there are a few things I realized I've fucked up."

"You're swearing again," I pointed out to him.

"I know. You bring it out of me."

I not only took my head away from his person, I also gave him a shove for good measure.

"That's actually a good thing, Babe," he told me, sliding his arm around me and moving me towards the trail that will take us out of here once he saw that I can walk on my own without too much assistance.

I had to wait to ask what he meant by that until after he told Cal where we were headed. I guess the guys are being left to handle the clean up and fallout from this.

When we were alone again, and had started walking slowly back to his vehicle, I questioned his comment.

"Why is it good that I make you curse. Joe used to sound resigned or pissed off when I did something to make him reach for his Rolaids."

"Morelli's an idiot who didn't understand or deserve you. Don't use his actions or words to measure anything by. How often do you see me angry or out of control?"

"Almost never."

"And how many of those few times directly involved you?"

I thought about that for a minute. "Almost all of them."

"You're the _only_ person who has been able to get a reaction out of me, whether that be anger, amusement, or love. And for a man like me, that's everything."

Shit. I didn't cry at all when I thought I was going to die, but the thought that _I_ could lessen _any_ of Ranger's pains made my eyes feel overly hydrated. He pulled me closer, being careful of my body in case I hurt somewhere he couldn't see.

"You create an emotional tornado in me, too," I said to him, not wanting him to be alone in admitting just how important we are to each other.

" _Would_ you be interested in staying with me?"

"I don't know. We've only just recently started to _date/_ date."

"I think we've already passed the typical dating stage of a relationship," he told me. "We've also lived together - sometimes for weeks at a time - in the past."

I stopped in the middle of the trail and faced him. "Is this fear talking?"

"Yes ... and no. Today made things more clear, but I have given thought to how it would be to have you in my bed at night and in my arms in the morning ... _every_ morning ... long before before I saw you nail a guy in the esophagus with an elbow. When I didn't feel the urge to run from the idea of settling my life down a little, I accepted that I was in deep shit."

"I'm flattered," I said, sarcasm dripping from each word.

"You should be. Tank's my best friend, but I want his ass out of my space five minutes after it enters it."

"And _my_ ass?"

" _Your ass_ is not only perfect, it's welcome to mine, my apartment, and whatever part of my life it wants."

 _Holy crap!_ Getting kidnapped isn't so bad after all if it leads to statements like that. Suddenly, the only thing on my body that hurts is my busted lip from smiling so wide.

"Ouch," I said.

"I would tell you to stop doing that, but after thinking that I may never see you smile again, I can't order you to stop even if it's causing pain."

"At this particular moment ... I'm feeling _no_ pain," I promised him.

"I need a doctor backing that up before I believe it."

"I don't suppose you'd just take my word for it."

"No."

"Okay ... then let's get that part over with, because I don't think I've ever looked forward to an evening more than the one we'll be having tonight."

Ranger placed the softest kiss on my slightly swollen mouth before laying a beefy arm across my shoulders. We were about halfway to where I remember the parking area of the conservation land being, when I figured out how to word what I wanted to tell him, which would break the comfortable silence we have going.

"Ranger?"

"Yeah, Babe?"

"Do you think after we hit the ER, we can stop and pick up Rex before we head to Rangeman?"

He stopped moving. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I think I am."

Rex may not think it's a big deal that his home will be sitting on a different counter from tonight on, but _I_ know exactly how huge of a deal it actually is. It isn't a change I ever thought I'd be in a position to make, but now I can't wait to see how it feels to stay with Ranger longer than it takes a threat to pass.


End file.
